Canon 10D/Photoshop CS/Epson 1280 Owners

[drandy1]

I am getting more than a little frustrated with monitor/print color matching. I even attended the EPSON Print Academy yesterday to make sure that I am using Photoshop CS - Print with Preview correctly. I have recently calibrated my monitor with Colorvison Spyder with PhotoCAL (improvement there). My main problem I think is with the correct printer profile. I go searching the web for specific printer/paper profiles and see a nice free selection for the Epson 2200 but nothing for the 1280 aside from the Epson driver. I tried the basic 1280 profile in CS and then turned my color management off on the printer. Result - a very saturated image with strong blue/green coloration.

I have also found a series of Epson 1290 paper profiles. Can these be used with the 1280 - I believe the printer is the same but European? These are better but the print is pretty dark overall with a slight brownish cast.

Bottom line: what settings/profile do people use with my set up? Which printer profile and where from (are the $25 custom profiles worth the money?). Sometimes I think I am close and then do a final tweak and BAM....miles away again. I am getting tempted to sell my 1280 and get a 2200 ....at least I know where the profiles are!!

Thanks in anticipation.

[Scottes]

I feel your pain - I'm going through the same thing with my 1280. Ritz and Walgreens printed the image fine - more than close enough. Yet mine came out dark and blue/green, too.

If you ever figure this out please let me know. I have been debating getting someone to make a custom printer profile for me, but it's not much of a concern right now. For $50 or $75 it's cheaper than buying a new printer!

[scottbergerphoto]

I use the 2200. The results from the Printer Driver and the results from the Epson ICC profiles with the printer set to No Color Adjustment are pretty close. Some reviews actually rate the printer driver as better as long as you use Epson Paper and Inks( www.luminous-landscape.com ). The new ICC profiles for the 2200 were a disaster. Are you dissatisfied with the results you are getting from the printer driver? If you are, please post the settings you are using.
Scott

[drandy1]

As a follow up to my original question, I use Adobe 1998 as my working space. I already have an active monitor profile kicking in upon start up. When I go to print a file, I use the Print with Preview initially and select Epson 1280 which comes up in my choices for printer profile. There is only one and I don't know which paper setting this is linked to. I then go into my printer menu and select the paper (I usually use either Matte-Heavyweight or Premium Glossy Photo). I then go under Custom settings and select No Color Management, print quality - 1440. I then hit print and wait for the result.

Not sure if there is some other settings I should be doing? Should I be reloading my printer driver from Epson - I see there is a version 5 on the website dated at the end of 2002. Is this where the profiles are hidden? Please let me know if there are other settings info. you need to be able to help me.

[maderito]

I work with a Canon printer, but I think the question is relevant to both printers: Can the manufacturer-supplied generic "printer profile" be used as a media-specific ICC profile when printing in Photoshop?

You can answer the question. In PS "Print with Preview", set "Soure Space" to Adobe RGB and Print Space to "Printer Color Mangement" and turn on color management in the printer driver. If this gives you a good print, then the Epson supplied 1280 "profile" is not being interpreted as a media-specific profile.

It is my impression that the generic Epson/Canon profiles (an .icm file in my sytem containing, I believe, a collection of media-specific profiles) are used by the printer driver, not by Photoshop. Perhaps someone knows for sure?

[scottbergerphoto]

When I want to let the Printer Driver (Epson 2200) handle the color management, I set the source to : Adobe RGB(1998) I set the Output to : Printer Color Management, and then pick one of the selections in the Epson Printer Driver(sRGB or ICM) after selecting the correct paper and dpi(usually 1440 or 2880). I've never selected the Printer itself as an output.
Thanks Maderito for all your help in this area in the past.
Regards,
Scott

[drandy1]

Thanks to all for the replies. I now see that the best solution to my problems is to use the printer to color manage. I guess I need to get the respective paper settings correct and then fiddle with the various magenta, cyan, etc color settings to get the best match. Had an initial crack at this and things seemed better. If anyone has any specific settings they want to share that would be appreciated but I understand that this part of the exercise may just be trial and error.

Final quick question - anyone used the new Epson 4870 Pro Scanner?

Thanks again.